Positive mid-year investment performance reported | November 20 2013

November 20, 2013

FREDERICTON (GNB) – The New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation reported an overall investment return for the first six months of the fiscal year 2013-14 of 2.07 percent.

Investment returns for the Public Service, Teachers’ and Judges’ pension plans were 2.16 percent, 1.95 percent and 2.16 percent respectively. The differences in the return to the three funds were due to different proportions and types of investment assets held by each.

John A. Sinclair, president and chief executive officer of the corporation, said he continued to be pleased with the consistent investment returns being obtained for the pension funds of civil servants, teachers and judges despite a challenging investment environment.

Sinclair noted, that while the significant increase in interest rates that occurred during the first fiscal quarter negatively impacted the fixed income component of the portfolio, the strong performance of the other components of the investment strategy resulted in the overall achievement of positive returns.

The overall annualized real return (the return after adjusting for inflation) since the corporation’s inception ended the period at 4.73 percent per year.

He noted that this long-term performance, which is the corporation’s main investment objective, continues to exceed the long-term four-per-cent mandate set out by each pension plan’s independent actuary.

“We expect that the investment environment will remain challenging in the near term due particularly to the uncertainty around global central bank interest rate policies,” Sinclair said. “However, we remain confident that our well-diversified and disciplined investment process will continue to provide the long-term investment returns required by our three pension plan clients.”

The New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation was formed in 1996 to operate at arm’s length from government. Its team of more than 40 Fredericton-based investment professionals provides cost-effective global investment management services for more than 51,000 pension plan members, including teachers, judges and public servants.